


More Than Forever; Together

by ninespercentage (nicrt)



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Disbandment, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:55:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22100656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nicrt/pseuds/ninespercentage
Summary: an au when nine percent never disbanded
Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	1. D-Day

D-Day.

It was a scary word. No matter how many times it was colloquially used, the implications behind this word were still frightening. It meant the end. And Xukun... well, he didn't like endings. He was used to them, sure. Knew that they were bound to happen. Didn't mean he had to like them. 

He inhaled deeply. Closed his eyes. Focused on his breathing, the feel of the microphone in his hand. Ran through all the prechecks he had done and had double-checked on in his head. Imagined the steps for his part of the performance, then his members' parts, and then the positions. His body nearly moved on instinct as he pictured the nine of them performing together. After so long... they were nine again.

A hand patted down on his shoulder; Ziyi. His brother in arms smiled at him.

"You ready, bro?"

From beside Ziyi, Zhengting and Justin peeked at him; smiling at him, eyes shining with excitement. Further behind them, were Zhangjing and Linong doing vocal warm-ups. Up ahead, talking animatedly with one another, were Xiao Gui and Chengcheng, jumping around with some magical extra energy. Then, there was Yanjun, hidden in the shadows of the backstage; staring out at the audience, the thousands of lights that represented the love and adoration the world out there had for them. 

Xukun thought ' _I_ _don't think I'll ever be ready_.'

He smiled back and said, "Always."

D-days were scary. They signified the end.

Tonight, it was the first day of a whole new beginning.

Another era for the nine of them.

Together.


	2. Comeback

Their third album consisted mostly of duets and various kinds of collaborations. The rappers got together to make their own cyphers while the vocalists recorded their ballads. Some songs switched up the group, pairing a rapper with a vocalist or having the vocalist rap and the rapper sing. It said a lot about their capabilities as artists; their ability to become more than just their designated labels. Well-rounded, all-rounded. They couldn't be more proud of themselves. 

Their best collaboration songs, of course had to be their title tracks.

_We Back to Back_ & _Heads Held High_.  
  
All nine of them were in both songs. The schedule had been messy and their ability to be available was a trainwreck in the making. But they managed. It helped that they each had personal studios to record at now. That, and thank god for private and secure cloud servers to upload onto and continue on from wherever whoever left of. Wasn't ideal. But hey, they were beggars once before and they knew how not to be choosey.

And it worked, in the end. On the day all nine of them could meet and be in a room at the same time for longer than an hour, they all pretty much loved the songs. There had been a debate again, on which song should be the title track. _We Back to Back_ was the upbeat and edgy pop song whilst _Heads Held High_ had been their uplifting and soul-baring ballad.

In the end, the vote went into a tie. Xukun, was, of course, the tie-breaker.

"I like both," he said, in the end.

Well, there was a first time for everything. Their fearless leader being indecisive being one of those firsts. 

"Well, why not just both, then?" Justin piped up.

And that was that.


	3. Studio Dreams I

"Do you ever think?" Linkai asked.

"...ah?" Was Yanjun's response.

How did one respond to something like that?

"I mean, do you ever think about," Linkai gestured to the room they're in; Ziyi's studio. "This. All this."

"I don't follow," he did of course; think about it, he meant. He was living out his dream. "About getting to be an idol?"

Linkai nodded. "Artist, idol, singer, rapper, entertainer; whatever you wanna call it."

"Yeah, 'course I do. Why?"

"You ever think about how far we can go? With all this?"

Well, when now that he's been asked...

Yanjun tried to picture it. He imagined himself in a recording studio; his own came to mind. But then he's hopping all over China again. Going over to Zhengting's home studio to play with his pets. Working on new songs with Zhangjing at one of their company's meeting rooms. Trying very hard not to end up playing video games all night with Justin and Chengcheng when they were supposed to be working ("We're idols; our play is work." "...what kind of logic is that?"). Talking over the phone with Xukun, discussing how one song should work with what key and arrangement.

Suddenly, his mind gave him the image of him old and grey and still doing all of these things and well, now he's not so sure he wanted to continue this line of thought. He'd like to, of course, to be old and still do what he loved. But... not right now, thanks.

"You okay man?" Linkai was looking at him weirdly.

Yanjun was still pulling at his cheeks and checking for grey hairs. "Yeah, 'm fine."

"You look pale."

"Who's pale?" Ziyi came over then, a bottle of water in hand. "Do you need water?"

Yanjun shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine. I had a mini-nightmare for a moment there."

Linkai gave him another weird look. "All I asked was if you ever thought about going far with our dreams."

"I thought too far ahead; I'm not ready for wrinkles yet."

A pause of silence. And then they all collapsed into a fit of laughter. 

"Yeah, too far man." Ziyi chortled. Linkai was still wheezing beside him. "How about we just stick to the now, huh?"

Worked just fine for Yanjun. His dream was still in the now, after all.


End file.
